What happened?
by theaverys
Summary: Ten years have passed and Jackson and April are in a major rut. Why? What happened and will they find their way back to each other? Rated T now, could change to M in the future if pressured ;)
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! Finishing up some old stuff too but I had to get this idea out. This is multi-chapter story. My writers block was baaad but I feel like it's gone now finally. Thankfully. Enjoy this story and please let me know what you think...I love reading your reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, at all. Not even close. **

Jackson Avery's BMW sat parked in the driveway of the home he and his wife April shared for the past eleven years. He had got home almost ten minutes prior but still couldn't go inside. The rain was falling down in record amounts and it was nearly pitch black outside. From the driveway he could faintly see that the lights were on, so April had beat him home from work. She usually parked in their garage so he was used to her car being hidden from his view if she was there at all.

Soon the only light on was in the kitchen and he could see her moving, most likely cooking supper. He was used to her cooking dinner every night and keeping the house tidy as usual. Although lately, they'd had a lot of cereal, sandwiches and take out. She was constantly volunteering to work doubles at the hospital and he felt like they almost never saw each other. She didn't even make time for him at work like she had for so many years before. Their midday on-call hook ups dissipated until the point where him being able to keep tabs on her at all was iffy.

He felt the faint vibration of his cell phone in his pocket and pulled it out to take a look and sighed. The Celtics were down by ten points with only a minute left in the 4th quarter. The game was done and the Celtics missed the playoffs again, just the thing he needed to help his mood.

Frustrated, he grabbed his brief case off the passengers seat and turned the car off. After he closed the drivers door he beeped the car to turn the alarm on and took a deep breath before walking inside.

April was spinning lettuce for what looked like a garden salad with dinner. He hung his keys on the hook by the door, along with his jacket. His briefcase stayed in his hands, as he was going to go into his office and work on an article he was in the final stages of writing before publication.

His now brunette wife didn't look up from the spinner. Her long hair which he had noticed was curled before work was now pulled back into a ponytail. She was wearing tight black leggings and his old Harvard t shirt that she had taken ownership of from him over ten years ago. The 'Harvard' was faded out almost completely and there were two holes in it. He leaned down and kissing her on the cheek, "Sweetheart."

She ignored his greeting, unintentionally, but it didn't go void of notice. "Salmon with a salad for dinner."

Jackson inwardly groaned. He wasn't a huge fan of salmon but she still made it from time to time. He knew he couldn't complain, he was lucky she cooked at all anymore. The thought of one more bowl of cereal for dinner made his stomach turn. He nodded appreciatively and took off to his office down the hall. It didn't go unnoticed by him that she had opened up another bottle of wine and looked to be halfway through it already.

His office was cold. It was filled with dark woods, medical books and journals and a tv so he could have the game on in the background while he worked. There wasn't much decoration and that was probably because he didn't want April to worry about decorating it and he wasn't really the type to do it himself. She didn't seem to come in there often either anymore. The one thing he had done, was edge an old sonogram over one of his awards on his desk. It caught his attention. It usually usually went unnoticed, being on his desk for so long but on a night like tonight it was hard not to see it.

He was pulled out of his trance by his wifes quiet voice, "Supper's ready."

She surprised him. More time must have gone by than he thought. It looked nowhere close to ready when he got home, the oven was still preheating since he remembered the salmon sat on a pan atop the stove.

Instead of responding he just gave a quick nod and followed her to the kitchen. They sat at the small table in the kitchen instead of the formal dining room they had but never used. It was too big for just the two of them.

His plate was already at his seat and it did look good. Even for salmon. "Thanks. It looks delicious."

She forced a smile, he could tell. After eleven years of marriage there wasn't anything he didn't know about her or her mannerisms. He could look at her and know what she was thinking without having to ask, at least he used to be able to. Her body was his in every way too, there was nothing he'd left unchartered after all of that time. He longed for it, not just for sex, but to be close to his wife again.

They ate in silence for what seemed like eternity. "I have to go to Boston for a board meeting next Thursday, I just found out today. But I'll be home Saturday morning." He offered in between bites, she poured more wine in response.

"Take it easy April." He warned, pulling the bottle to his side of the table. She uncrossed her legs and moved her hands up in defeat before getting up and walking to their bedroom. Well, she thought it was still their bedroom. Even though Jackson seemed to fall asleep on the couch late at night more times than not.

He didn't know what to do. Their warm home was now cold and his wife was more distant than ever. The worst part was he didn't know what he was doing wrong or how to fix it.

Meanwhile, April sat on their large king sized bed alone. Part of her wanted nothing more than to see her husband knock on their door and peek his head in to ask if she was ok. She'd love if he would hold her like he used to do while she tried to pull herself together. But the longer she stared at the door, the sadder she got. He wasn't coming. She was used to being alone anyway.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for sticking with me even though I'm sure it feels kind of dark right now. I enjoyed reading the reviews you all left for chapter 1 and look forward to reading what you think about this chapter. Thanks!**

The next few days came and went but nothing seemed to change in the Avery household. April was picking up more shifts than ever, even sleeping at the hospital one night. It was just past one am when Jackson got out of emergency surgery and decided to call it a night in an on-call room. Driving the twenty five minutes home when he was utterly exhausted was the last thing he wanted.

He picked an on-call room that was usually empty on the surgical floor. It was near the end of the hall and it became his regular one over the past few months. After sending a quick text to his wife he went inside to power nap.

When he walked in he was surprised to see it was already occupied by a beautiful brunette. "April?"

She was still passed out, curled up in a ball and sleeping like a rock. Between their different shifts that week at the hospital he hadn't seen or even talked to her for the last 36 hours which was completely uncharacteristic in their marriage. Even throughout their struggles the past year, they'd managed to text each other their whereabouts.

He whispered her name a second time to see if she was awake and got no answer. Reminiscent of so many times before, he crawled into the tiny bed with her. Uncharacteristically, she turned away from him, even in her sleep. The feel of it made him flinch. He was used to her practically sleep on top of him in on-call rooms. Within minutes he was about to fall into a slumber and try and forget about the cold reaction his wife had towards him.

When he woke up a few hours later, April was gone. As if he was never in the bed with her at all. The only thing that reminded him she was there at all was the tiny impression she had made on the sheets next to him. He sighed and rubbed his face and the sleep out of his eyes until he could find it in him to get out of bed.

Jackson started packing for Boston the next day, which they both happened to have off. As April sat at the kitchen table reading a medical journal, Jackson struggled to pack. "Have you seen my blue tie? The one I wore to Libby's wedding?" He asked, checking the laundry room for the tie.

April barely looked up from the journal. "It's at the washers."

He sighed. She knew it was his favorite and this was a big meeting. "It was fine, I barely wore it." He mumbled at what he thought was a remark made under his breath.

Clearly April heard his comment. "Or, instead of complaining, you could choose a different tie and be thankful that you have a wife who cares whether your tie is clean or dirty in the first place."

Instead of waiting for him to retort her comment, she pulled her token move and walked away, slamming the guest bedroom door behind her.

Jackson was utterly confused and clearly they needed to have a conversation. But since he was leaving he decided to wait until he got back. It didn't seem like something they'd be able to fix before his flight tomorrow morning anyway. A fight that had been building for this long felt like it'd take just as long for them to fix.

The trip came and went. He made it home in what seemed like no time, the conference was actually a tiny relief, just to have those 24 hours away from home and some time to think about how he felt and what he wanted out of life and out of their marriage.

After a short twenty four hours in his hometown, he caught the red eye back to Seattle and made it back to the hospital in time for a board meeting there and a few consults he had scheduled. He got home past eleven that night and April was already sleeping.

The next morning he was woken up by April who was furiously packing a suitcase. The dresser drawer was slammed shut and she threw clean underwear on of top of a suitcase full of clothes.

"Babe, where are you going?" Jackson moaned, pulling himself up against their headboard. He was shirtless and even that wasn't distracting her. She refused to look him in the eyes, fearful of what it would do to her, fearful of what its always done to her.

She looked at him with a face that showed pure disgust. "Don't babe me, Jackson. Just….just don't." She was shaking her head at him and for the first time, he saw hate spread across her face. In all of the years that they'd known each other, he'd never felt her have such cold feelings towards him. Not the time that he forgot their anniversary, or even when he naively got her a vacuum cleaner for Christmas because he genuinely thought she'd love it.

Jackson shot his wife a puzzled expression and she angrily shook her head. "Look. I can't just live our life as if nothing as happened anymore. I know you've moved on, you've forgotten, but I can't." He flinched. Her words hurt. She spit them out of her mouth with more bitterness than he'd ever heard her have.

And she was wrong. He hadn't moved on. Not even a little bit. How could he? "Where are you going?" Jackson asked her, jumping out of bed. Suddenly he was standing practically on top her, trying to pull her suitcase away from her. He didn't know what he did or why she was leaving him. They had problems, but they also had vows and he intended to keep them.

April pulled her suitcase back from his grasp and zipped it. "I just need a break Jackson. I need some me-time. I'll call Hunt and tell him I'm taking some time off." She threw her bag over her shoulder and took one last look around the room to check for anything she missed. She must have had everything she needed because she walked out. Jackson followed her, watching her walk across their house towards the driveway. He stood, tired, confused and miserable with his hands on his hips as she slammed the door behind her. He watched her pull herself up into the Black Tahoe she drove and close the door. She quickly looked behind her and backed out onto the street and pulled into traffic. There was no emotion on her face. She didn't look mad, she didn't look sad. She was just leaving. She was leaving him.

When he walked back into their bedroom to grab a shirt, the site of her engagement ring and wedding ring on their dresser hit him like a knife to his chest.


	3. Chapter 3

**Update!**

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Just two weeks had passed and Jackson still hadn't heard from his wife. She wasn't at work and even Arizona hadn't heard from her. Or at least she said she hadn't.

He tried to let her have the space she needed by continuing about with his business but it was harder than he initially thought. His mood was definitely affected by the whole ordeal.

Dr. Bailey approached him slowly, knowing full well that his wife had left him and she'd have to tread carefully. Even though she didn't like the rumor mill that was always prominent at Grey Sloan, she still was around it. The only reason she needed to approach Dr. Avery at all is because she needed more funding for the virus project she'd been working on for years now. She was so close to curing HIV that she was barely sleeping anymore.

He noticed her slowly creeping up beside him. "Dr. Bailey," he greeted, glancing down at the woman, a former teacher. He was in the middle of prepping for surgery so he was drawn into the patients file on his tablet. And he kind of figured she was asking for more money again.

"Dr. Avery." She greeted him back, she was wearing the smile she had when she needed something. He knew the expression by now. Not to mention the way she tangled her hands together and nearly stood on her tip toes out of habit.

He let her suffer for a moment. He'd already put more money aside in the budget for her project because she was so close and he knew she'd be able to to do it. She didn't have to know that yet though. "Can I help you with something?"

Bailey couldn't tell what kind of mood he was in, he just seemed busy. "I uh, I was hoping to get more funding for my research project. I...I know everyone is needing more funding right now but I'm almost there Dr. Avery. I've almost there. It's so close that I can smell it."

He let her finish her Bailey rant. They were nothing if not inspiring and he was only of the people in the hospital who truly liked them, they were inspiring and inspiring is what he needed right now now.

"How much do you need?" He asked her, giving her his focus now. It was crunch time for her and her project, he knew it.

"I'd like two million but at this point I can work with anything you can give me." She told him honestly, hoping that'd ease him up a little.

He thought about it, nodding over to a conference room that was empty. She followed him and he closed the door. "Bailey, I have to talk to the board before I can officially allocate these funds for you, but I've got them saved in the budget. Two million. But that is it, I can't give anymore than that."

She grinned. He believed in her, he had to or he wouldn't be doing this for her. That meant something to her.

"Thank you Dr. Avery. You...you and the board won't regret this." She told him eagerly. She'd been putting off asking him for over two weeks now. It never seemed like the right time. When he just seemed to force a smile for her and give her a pat on the back as he started to walk out she felt like maybe she could help him too.

"Jackson, wait." She called after him before he opened the door. He turned around to see what she had to say.

"What is it Dr. Bailey?"

She wanted to give him some words of support. Word on the street was his marriage was just about done. She'd know him and Jackson for almost fifteen years now, ever since they were residents and they'd never been this distant towards each other.

"I know April is gone and I can tell you miss her. But sometimes….sometimes you just need to step outside, get some air, and remind yourself of who you are and who you want to be. And I feel like that's what she's doing." She told him, reaching for his hand. He looked so tense she could barely stand it. It wasn't her place and she wasn't a meddler. But he needed someone.

Her heart dropped when his eyes filled with tears. Like he finally could talk about it. The whole time she knew Jackson and April she noticed they never really had anyone other than each other. They had friends but not close ones. He must be dying inside.

"It feels like she left me." He weeped, letting go of her hand, walking out of the conference room.

She shook her head. She knew that wasn't true. "I know you two have been to hell and back but you share so much still Jackson. It's worth working on."

He shut her down. "Besides the bills, all we share now is our misery."

When he walked out of the conference room, he couldn't make it to his office fast enough. The minute he walked in his fist went through the wall behind his desk. "Dammit!"

After he was calm he looked at his fist. It was red and sore and basically hurt like hell but didn't seem to be broken. It was honestly the least of his problems. There was a letter waiting on his desk for him he noticed when he finally sat down and he could see that it was April's handwriting.

For a brief moment he thought about ignoring it and treating her how she was treating him but he couldn't do it. He ripped the envelope open with the hand that was nearly busted.

It was a letter. Who even wrote letters anymore? She had a cell phone, a tablet, a laptop….and she wrote him a letter. This was it for him. This letter was what was most likely going to make or break their marriage. He took a minute to collect himself before reading it.

_Jackson,_

_I just wanted to let you know that I'm alive, I know you're probably worried. I took the greyhound back to Ohio to visit my dad and Shari. I just need some space like I said. It wasn't my intention to be so harsh towards you, this is just as much my fault as it is yours. I'm going to stay out here for a little while longer while I figure out what my next step is. _

_I've already talked to Owen and gotten a leave of absence. I think this is best for everyone right now. You know where to find me but if you love me, you won't. I'll be home soon. _

_Love always,_

_April_

He couldn't be at work anymore. So he went home again to an empty house. Just like the night before and the night before that. Their bed was unmade because she had been the one to make it every day for the past eleven years. There were cereal bowls in the sink and he left his keys in his pocket. The hook was pointless now. He didn't have to put his keys on the hook anymore.

The book she was reading was still on the coffee table and her favorite pink sneakers for work were by the front door. The place even smelled like her. He couldn't be there anymore. Not without the love of his life. Not without their son.

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	4. Chapter 4

It had been the longest fortnight of his life. He knew April left because she needed space and he needed space too. Their marriage was in shambles and it didn't seem to be getting better any time soon. She didn't seem to be coming home any time in the near future either.

Ever since she left him he'd gotten into a new routine. It was quiet. He took a few days off work to pull himself together and then went back to face his friends and co-workers. Much to his luck they knew the last thing he wanted to do was talk about it so that basically steered away from asking him questions about his runaway wife.

It's not that no one understood where this was coming from because they were all aware of the problems April and Jackson had over the years. They were problems that none of them knew they could have gotten through themselves.

Jackson wandered into the attendings lounge, getting ready to help pull his one overnight shift a month. He saw Cristina sitting on the communal couch, watching Friends.

"Avery." She greeted him, eyes focused on the tv. She just knew it was him.

"Yang."

"What are you doing here so late? You've been an 8-5'er for years." She laughed, mostly at the fact that Joey on Friends was wearing everything Chandler owned. Even Jackson had to laugh at that for a minute.

"Pulling my overnight tonight. You?" She took a side glance at him to see him pouring a large cup of coffee into his mug.

"You know, April left. You can go to the coffee cart for that coffee. No one's going to rat you out." She laughed, trying to make light of the situation. He shrugged. He gave up the coffee cart years ago. It wasn't worth the fight and black coffee was healthier than the latte's he used to slam anyway.

"Funny. But she's coming back soon." He laughed and then abruptly stopped when Cristina's face looked pained. Pained for him.

"Is she?" the woman asked, getting serious all of the sudden. The pair had become pretty good friends over the years, Cristina and April that is. He assumed that they would have talked even though she had left.

He struggled. "Actually, I was hoping you could tell me?"

She sighed. She really didn't know but this was unlike anything Kepner had done since she'd known her. Kepner was a routine person, a type A person. She went to church every Sunday, she packed her lunch every day. She took the the same route to work. She wasn't a cold person. She wasn't a person who would pack up and run away from her problems and run away from her family.

"I haven't talked to her. She hasn't contacted me either Jackson. I'll let you know if I talk to her though." She shrugged sympathetically. She did something completely un-Cristina like and gave him a light hug and pat on the back and she got up and left to check on a patient of hers. That wasn't a good sign for Jackson. Not at all.

He worked through the rest of the night, helping in the ER and finishing some administrational tasks that he had left unfinished the day before. If the overnight shift was good for anything, it was good for getting other duties done. For the most part it was slow going.

It was just pushing seven am and the end of his shift when a nurse paged him to call 200, more times than not meaning he had someone calling him. Jackson found the nearest phone and dialed the number.

"April?"

There was a long lull of silence before she talked again. The sound of her whimpers took over. She was in hysterics. He couldn't imagine what would have made her so upset out of the blue. She was staying with her Dad and Shari. She'd gotten along with Shari wonderfully so he didn't think it could be that and her sisters were all moved out. "What's wrong? Are you ok? Where are you?"

She tried to talk but kept gasping over her cries trying to catch a gust of air. "I need you," there was more silence. "We need to talk."

"I'll be there in a few hours," He promised, trying to calm his wife. He didn't bother changing out of his scrubs, just rushed home to get a few things before going to the airport. He packed a few things in a bag, practically throwing his belongings in. He made sure to pack his tooth brush, clean underwear and his wallet. Other than that he didn't care what he brought.

His drive to the airport was less than safe. His beamer was pushing 80 on the expressway and swerving in and out of lines of traffic on the expressway. Instead of wasting time by calling the airport to check on flights he decided to leave right away and buy a ticket at the gate. He'd flown so many times before that he figured he could get into Ohio by evening or if nothing else he could fly into Chicago or Detroit and rent a car to drive down the couple of hours to her dad's farm.

Valet was waiting near the door and he jumped out, grabbed his small bag and handed his keys off. The extra fee for valet was the last thing he was worried about. He didn't know if this call from April was good or bad, but he did know it had been months since she'd shown any kind of emotion at all towards him so he owed it to her to see what it was about.

By the time he was in the main entrance of the airport there were only two people in front of him at the counter. He pulled his credit card and ID out while he was waiting.

"Hello sir, how may I help you?" The woman asked behind the desk. She looked tired and maybe even a little grumpy. Perhaps she wasn't a morning person either.

"Hello, are there any planes flying into Dayton or Detroit tonight? I need to get to Moline, Ohio by morning." He breathed, pulling up his smartphone to see what other airports he could fly in to.

She fumbled around on her computer for what seemed like an hour while he paced and fidgeted anxiously. He realized it was likely that there were just no options for him. Getting a connection to Ohio from Seattle was never common. He knew that after going back to Ohio countless times with April and Jordan over the years.

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**The rest of this story is finished so updates will be posted in timely manner :) Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

The plane landed in Cincinnati at three in the afternoon. He couldn't believe how perfect the timing was. After he purchased his ticket he had forty five minutes to find his gate and the plane had taken off shortly after.

He grabbed his bag from the overhead compartment above his seat and jogged off the plane. As soon as he spotted Enterprise he gave them all of his information again and rented the first car they gave him. A Ford Focus. Perfect. He didn't care.

Luckily for him Cincinnati was the normal airport they flew into when visiting her Dad so he knew how to drive the two hour journey by himself. As soon as he got out of the city he was traveling a long, straight highway by himself. Eventually the highway turned into back roads and awhile after that he found the farm.

No longer did he pull into the driveway did April come running out of the house. She looked the same as far as health goes. She wasn't hurt. Physically at least. She did look tired and sad. More tired than he had seen her in years. She jumped up onto him and he grabbed her and held her. The last thing he wanted to do was let her go because she hadn't hugged him in months.

She was eye to eye with him and rested her forehead against his. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry I lost another baby Jackson. I'm sorry." She cried and cried, trying to get it all out. He had no idea that that's what this was about. The baby they lost last month or a few months before that didn't make him love his wife any less. Why would it?

"Hey hey hey, baby…. calm down. It's not your fault. This has never been your fault," he promised her, wiping away her tears as she held onto him tightly. "Sometimes things just aren't meant to be. I don't blame you April. Not one bit." He told her sternly.

She shook her head as tears fell like rain down her face. "I should be able to carry another baby. What am I doing wrong?"

His heart broke for her. "You aren't doing anything wrong April," he whispered. "Sometimes, sometimes these things just happen. And there's no reason for it."

She bit her bottom lip, trying to grasp the situation. He didn't say anything because he knew she was going over everything a thousand times in her head. She was thinking back to the still birth and the two miscarriages. She was trying to figure out where she went wrong or why she didn't deserve another baby.

"And we have Jordan. You, me and Jordan are the perfect family. I am so lucky to have you two, I don't need anyone else." He tried soothing her, but that really was how he felt. Just because their son was away at summer camp for the summer, for the first time, didn't mean he didn't miss him. Actually, he was going to change his mind on letting him go the whole summer again next year. That was too long to let him go.

She nodded and he kissed her first on her forehead and cheeks and then down to her neck before he planted a soft kiss on her lips. God he had missed that, he missed her.

The way she kissed him back must have meant she felt the same way. Communication was never their strong suit but he thought they'd gotten better at it over the years. Apparently not.

They were interrupted by her dad and Shari. He set April down and she didn't let him go, instead she held onto his side with everything she had.

He didn't want to get into it with them, their problems were personal and he didn't know how much April had talked about with them.

"Just in time for dinner. We're having steaks, grilled potatoes and corn on the cob." Joe smiled, motioning for them to walk on back to the back porch for dinner. He nodded. Things were so easy out here.

The last time he and April had been to Moline without Jordan was when Karen was still alive so it felt a little strange. It was nice for them to have some adult time to talk though, so he'd take it. Shari was an amazing woman and he admired how much his wife and her family loved and accepted her.

Karen died almost four years ago after a short battle with cancer. She was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer and died shortly after. No one in the family was prepared. They weren't "financially" prepared for the future without her and they certainly weren't mentally prepared.

Mostly Jackson knew that April worried about her father though. He wasn't entirely sure that the man knew how to make a sandwich, find a grocery store and clean the house. He had depended on his wife so heavily to do all of those things for him and their family while he worked outside on the farm for all of those years.

Immediately after her mom died, April flew back to Ohio to stay with her dad. She was the only one who could get time off of work right away to do it. She got everything in order for him, helped with the house, taught him how to make simple meals, set up easy bill payments for his bills and essentially put him back together again. It was hard on their family but Jackson admired his wife for everything she was. The fact that she would put her life on hold to help her dad meant the world to him too.

When she finally came back home she still kept in close contact with her dad. She called him a couple of times a week and whenever she didn't talk to him one of her sisters would update her. She told Jackson one night that it was the closest she had ever been with her father.

Jackson put in an effort to. After flying back from a board meeting in Boston one night he stopped in Moline overnight and took Joe out to dinner to catch up with him. That was the night Joe introduced Jackson to Shari.

_Joe walks across the kitchen to pick the ringing corded phone up off it's receiver. "Kepner residence."_

_"Hi Joe, It's Jackson." He greeted him. He rarely called his father-in-law. Actually, the last time he could remember doing so it was to tell him April was in labor. _

_"Oh… Hi Son. How's it going?" Joe asked, amused and slightly confused at the phone call._

_"Good, good. Just flying back to Seattle from Boston. Thought I might fly into Ohio for the night. We haven't caught up in a while and April's working a double anyway. Are you free?"_

_He heard Joe mumble something to someone and was slightly confused. "Yeah sure, Son. Come on over. What time can I pick you up from the airport?"_

_Jackson shook that off. "No need. I'll rent a car. I'll be in around four this afternoon. Bye Joe."_

_As soon as they were finished talking Joe decided it was time he introduced his girlfriend to someone. _

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"Jackson, what's on your mind now?" April asked him, worried that their problems were actually no where near being solved.

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**Thank you so much for sticking with WH. And thanks for your reviews and comments on the story. I'll be explaining even more about Jackson and April's baby troubles and Shari so stay tuned :) Thanks again! What did you think about the latest chapter?**


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